Star Ratings in Windows Media Player

[SelArom]

let's say I want to write a program that will go through my media library and give me a list of the songs I've rated as 5 star in WMP. can this be done without using wmp?

what I mean is, can I do this in code? where does wmp put the star informaion?

-SelArom

 

[Ichigo]

..........

1. There's automatic five star playlist in WMP. Try to export the playlist?

2. If you need to ask these kinds of questions, it's best you don't write anything. Besides, if you knew anything, you would understand that the star rating system is built into mp3 files.

 

[SelArom]

well i want to know how to access this attribute programmatically. if wmp can do it why can't any application?

i'm not afraid to experiment, I just need a stepping off point

-SelArom

 

[Ichigo]

Almost any media player can access it. WinAMP can for sure at least. I would guess any mp3 tag editor could too.

 

[Gooberlx2]

2. If you need to ask these kinds of questions, it's best you don't write anything. Besides, if you knew anything, you would understand that the star rating system is built into mp3 files.

Wow, way to be a jerk. He doesn't know...why else would he be asking?

I guess the star rating is part of the ID3 tag. But different programs might implement that part of the tag differently, so you might look into that. I remember I once tried a program (mediamonkey I think, back in its early stages), which totally fubared all my mp3 tags.

You'll probably just use folder structures instead of WMP's library with what you're trying to do.

I'm sure there's some resource about the structure of the ID3 tag..but I wouldn't know where. Maybe try the Winamp development forums, considering how long they've been doing the whole plugin thing...I'm pretty sure they have a plugin developer's SDK, and that might help get you some info.

I'm also assuming you're using mp3 files, I have no idea how WMAs are tagged.

 

[iamaelephant]

I don't think the rating system is built into the ID3 tags actually. Every time I format, I copy all of my music onto another computer and then copy it back after the format, and all of my ratings are lost. I'm not sure how to get around this annoying problem. Same thing happens to my WMA files too

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: iamaelephant
I don't think the rating system is built into the ID3 tags actually. Every time I format, I copy all of my music onto another computer and then copy it back after the format, and all of my ratings are lost. I'm not sure how to get around this annoying problem. Same thing happens to my WMA files too

it would appear that the star ratings are logged in the file somewhere, because if I give a rating, then go to another pc and launch wmp and connect to the same library, the new rating is there. they were also present after reformatting, as my library is on another pc.

i'm still doing some investigating but I can't seem to find any specific info... if i do i'll report back

thanks again

-SelArom